


Azkaban

by novemberthird



Series: Excerpts From [13]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-01
Updated: 2017-11-01
Packaged: 2019-03-02 00:51:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13306932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/novemberthird/pseuds/novemberthird
Summary: prompt(s): how sirius got caught + black + blood + darkness + day of the dead + frightful





	Azkaban

* * *

(hallowe’en, nineteen eighty-one)  


_it was hallowe’en night when he had told peter he would come and make sure he was safe. they were friends after all, friends who were supposed to take care of each other. he was naïve. naïve to think that the pressure wouldn’t get to peter. naïve to think that the war wouldn’t change any of them. naïve to trust anyone else with the people he loved the most in the world. naïve._

* * *

_he arrived at peter’s small house, which had been placed under wards to keep muggles away. the house that had spells placed on it to keep him safe, it wasn’t exactly the fidelius charm, but it would hold. he arrived at nine at night when peter should have been home. he had assured sirius that he would be home. and sirius had no reason not to believe him. if he had only looked close enough. if he had only seen that peter wasn’t strong enough for this war. maybe they would still be here._

_there were no lights on, but sirius didn’t find it suspicious at the time, not at first. after all, peter had begun to become very paranoid. oh, he should have known._

_he grabbed the spare key from under the mat. he unlocked the door. it didn’t feel right. he frantically began to search the small house, shouting peter’s name as he did so. he quickly became scared at the lack of response._

_his voice cracked as he shouted, ‘oi, you git, this isn’t funny.’ no response._

_he checked the last room in the house and came up empty. peter was gone._

_the house showed no sign of struggles, and while it was possible peter had gone to his mother’s house, sirius wasn’t so sure. his gut told him it was something else. something worse._

_he rushed out his house and onto his motorbike. he headed for godric’s hollow. he headed to where he hoped to find his family._

_but when got there, he saw hagrid exiting the cottage with a small bundle in his arms, and he knew. he knew. because sirius knew his two best mates more than anything in the world. he knew the lily that would have her baby by her side as she baked biscuits and worked on her potions. he knew the lily that would baby her son when the cat accidentally scratched him. he knew the james that fussed over harry day and night the first time the little one sneezed. he knew the james that cried the first time harry was sick with a fever. he knew the couple who held each other tight after every battle, scared that they would lose the other. he knew the couple that would never leave their child to someone else with a lightning-shaped cut on his forehead. he knew they were dead, but he didn’t have to believe it. not yet._

_he got off his motorbike and jogged the distance to the giant. ‘where are they?’ he asked, even if he already knew the answer. he saw the pity in hagrid’s eyes. he didn’t want pity, he wanted them alive._

_‘james an’ lily are dead, sirius.’_

_dead. they’re dead._

_he heard hagrid as he tried to comfort him, but he didn’t understand a single word. how could he? they were dead._

_he felt as hagrid place a giant hand on his shoulder. ‘give harry to me, hagrid, i’m his godfather, i’ll look after him.’*_

_‘i have orders from dumbledore…’ he couldn’t understand what had been argued afterwards, all he knew was that harry was being taken away from him too._

_he accepted this. after all, where he was going was not a place for harry. not when all he could think about was hurting those who took them away from him._

_‘take my bike,’ he told hagrid, receiving a confused look before hagrid began protesting, ‘i won’t need it anymore.’* sirius gave him a sad smile, ‘get my godson there safely, yeah?’_

_hagrid began walking towards the bike when sirius called him back, ‘can i hold him? i want to say goodbye.’_

_hagrid looked at him carefully and nodded, hesitantly placing harry in his arms._

_harry cuddled closer to his godfather. ‘harry james potter. be good, yeah?’ harry opened his eyes, looking up at sirius. ‘i’ll see you again one day, harry. i hope you remember me. i hope you remember how much they loved you.’ he kissed his godson’s head, hugging him tight one more time before hagrid took him away. the next time he saw him was twelve years later._

_sirius watched as they flew away on his bike. he watched as harry left the only home he had ever known._

_sirius braced himself as he cautiously enter the house that had once been so full of life–especially given the circumstances. he entered, and he his already pale face turned a new set of white. upon entering, he was presented with the corpse of james. his brother. he wished he could pretend that james was sleeping, but james never was one for deep sleeping. he recalled lily teasing him james for watching her sleep rather than resting himself. james would drift off only to be awaken by the sound of harry or godric or on occasion lily._

_his brother was on the stairs, alone. and already sirius was beginning to understand what happened. he found them. and james, james would never let anyone hurt lily or harry. but harry was alive. he walked over to his mate and shut his eyes._

_‘now you can rest, jamie,’ he picked him up and placed him gently on the ground, letting his hand ruffle his mates’ hair–now that james no longer could._

_he went up the stairs that led to harry’s room. he stopped at the door, there lied lily evans–lily potter–dead. she was in front of harry’s cot. of course she was. he picked her body up as well, carrying her down and laying her next to her husband, forcing her beautiful eyes to shut for the last time. he placed a kiss on her forehead, ‘goodnight, lil.’_

_nothing could tear apart the married couple, not anymore._

_he sat there next to their corpses, processing what had happened. how it could have happened. and it was peter. peter betrayed them. peter sold them out, and he had heard the rumours on his way here–voldemort killed them, voldemort was gone. but peter, peter wasn’t dead. not yet, but he would be. he would pay for making him suspect remus–remus who sirius should have realised would never betray james. when did remus ever hide behind them? he would pay for causing sirius to trust him, for causing him to be responsible for the death of james and lily._

_he got up, not knowing how long he had been sitting down in the darkness._

_‘i’ll avenge you,’ he whispered to them. a look of hatred on his face as bitterly laughed at the fact that the rat turned out to really be a rat, a traitor, a spy. and they had befriended him._

_he looked at the redheaded girl–she was only twenty-one–and the boy who was no older than she was. he looked at the couple who would never get to watch their son grow up, who would never get to have all the children they had hoped to have. and because of this he swore an oath of vengeance against peter pettigrew._

_because of him, today would always be the day of the dead._

* * *

_he didn’t sleep until he found peter._

_he wouldn’t sleep. he was doing this for them. peter had taken them away from him. he had taken away two of the only people who had ever cared about him. who cared about him and loved him. he had taken them away. and now sirius didn’t care. he didn’t care about what would happen to him next. he didn’t care whether he lived or died. all sirius cared about was keeping his promise. he would kill peter pettigrew if it was the last thing he did. and peter would regret the day he decided to betray james and lily. he would regret the day he sold them out to voldemort. he would regret it once sirius had him where he wanted and made him beg for death._

_it was broad daylight, on november the first when he did catch him._

_‘peter,’ he said coldly when he finally had him cornered in muggle london._

_the rat began sobbing and, for a moment, sirius thought he would begin begging him for mercy. the frightful look on his face said as much._

_but that wasn’t what he did. ‘lily and james, sirius! how could you?’* and he betrayed him again._

_peter went for his wand, which sirius–in his unstable state–didn’t even consider. he watched as peter cast a spell that was far past his ability, the next moment, he was gone. the only evidence of having been there was his bloodied robes, a dozen dead muggle, and a finger. along with that was the crater that was karmic revenge on peter for betraying lily and james and harry. for betraying their friendship._

_he laughed. laughed because he was unstable from the loss of his friends. laughed because peter was gone. laughed because that was the only way he knew to cope with a world without lily and james potter._

_so when the hit wizards came to take him away, he didn’t fight it. he laughed like a maniac. maybe because he thought he deserved it, james and lily were dead because of him too._

**Author's Note:**

> prompt(s): how sirius got caught + black + blood + darkness + day of the dead + frightful 


End file.
